490 
FOREST^ AND^ STHeAM. 
I June 33, 1900. 
Canadian Fishing Notes. 
A NUMBER of American anglers arri¥e daily foi" the 
fishing resorts in these northern regions, but few of them 
have so far returned, so it is hard to state just what their 
all-round success has been. The returns up to the present 
go to confirm the statement already made that the season 
is backward, and the fly and mosquito season, usually at 
its height at this time of the year, is as yet only com- 
mencing. Most of the parties going out are, however, 
well prepared, and do not seem to fear much from these 
iittle pests. 
The trout so far shown in the windows of the sporting 
goods and other stores here are of good size, and indi- 
cate the tssual run of fish. 
From the salmon rivers no reports have as yet been 
received. ' 
. A party of distinguished Quebecers that has just re- 
turned from the Ouiatcouan Club at Lac Bouchette, on 
the line of the Quebec & Lake St. John Railway, con- 
sisted of His Worship the Hon. S, N. Parent, Mayor of 
Quebec _ city, and Commisioner of Crown Lands, Forests 
and Fisheries for the Province ; Alderman George 
Tanguay, Chairman of the Civic Finance Committee, and 
Gustave Grenier, Clerk of the Provincial Executive Coun- 
cil. His Worship, who is well known for his zeal in de- 
veloping Quebec's fishing and hunting resources, is, it 
will be seen, nothing if not practical in his methods, 
studying the questions concerned for himself. 
The party had a good measure of success, taking many 
fine fish, although onljr out for two days. 
Messrs. A. Turcotte and J. H. Patry, of Quebec, were 
fishing these fruitful waters at the same time. 
Messrs. F, W. Grant and J. H. Richardson, of Erie, Pa., 
are now tempting the big fellows on the Triton preserves. 
Mr. C, F. Broughton, of New York, is at present on 
the Nonantum Club's limits, 
Messrs. R. Sampson and Hurly, of Quebec, have a party 
•Of prominent Americans on their lakes near St. Fabien, on 
the^ I. C. R., but have not yet received any news to 
their success. 
Mr. and Mrs. Walter M, Brackett, of Boston, are now 
here en route to the Marguerite. The hale Old painter and 
lover of fish and fishing looks remarkably well, and is 
an ever welcome guest in Quebec. He looks forward to 
some excellent sport. 
Mr. George Burnhan.. of Portland, Me.j is also here 
on his way to the. haunts of the salmon. 
Messrs. C. H. Wilson, Jr., of Glens Falls, and J. M. 
Willjams, of ^ Salem, N. Y., are about to leave for the 
Ristigouche Salmon Club's headquarters. 
No less than five gentlemen — Dr. De Waterville and Mr. 
Thos. Paton, of New Y'ork, and Messrs. E. D. Toland, 
Linford Biddle and E. W. Clark, Jr., of Philadelphia—are 
now on their way from Quebec to the Moisie. 
The number of Quebecers who leave every Saturday for 
a couple of days in the northern woods is legion, and all 
speak well of their success. E. T. D. Ch.\mbhrs. 
QuEBBC, Canada, June 16. 
B. C. Milam. 
In this issue of Forest and Stream wc are pleased to 
present an excellent half-tone portrait of B. C. Milam, of 
Frankfort, Ky., who is famous the world over as the in- 
ventor of the Milam, Frankfort, Kentucky, reel, an 
angler's winch of true and exquisite mechanism. 
And what of its venerable maker, Capt. Milam, whose 
physical headM'ay has already carried him to his seventy- 
ninth year with vigor apparently unimpaired? Will the 
whirligig of time complete for him a one hundredth revo- 
lution, like his reel? Verily, he still plies his chosen avoca- 
tion in copartnership with his son, John W. Milam, who 
B. C. MILAM. 
has been associated with him since 1878; and for twenty- 
six years he has been a continuous advertiser in Forest 
AND Stream. May he long live to fill the enviable sphere 
he occupies, not only as a manufacturer of fishing reels, 
but as president of the Depcsit Bank of Frankfort and 
the Masonic Temple Company, as well as of sundry muni- 
cipal offices with which he has been invested. In his early 
life he was a soldier., and served with distinction in the 
Mexican War as captain of a cavalry regiment- .which he 
raised in his native county of Franklin. And he. came 
of a gallant military stock, for his father's brother,. Capt. 
Ben. R. Milam, Sell at the massacre of the Alamo with 
Travis, Bowie, Crockett and many others in the .struggle 
for Texas' independence, while in the maternal Jine .he is 
allied to the family of ex-President Andrew. Johnson. 
The citizens of Galveston have erected an expensive monu- 
ment to bis uncle's memory. He wa=; about forty-five 
years of age at the time of his death on Dec. 7. 1833. 
The history of his twenty years' career in Mexico and 
Texas forms a very interestiimg chapter. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
The Best Stream m Wisconsin, 
Chicago^ III, June 14.— As I write these lines there is a 
sore spot on the end of my thumb, a serrated, Jagged, 
ragged sort of .spot. OrdinarUy this fact would have no 
special public interest, but that might be only by reason 
of a lack of knowledge as to the origin of the sore spot. 
-In reality it was caused by trout teeth. You. can make 
your thuxiib sore at breaking the necks of trout, if they 
are big trout. These were big ones. That is why my 
thumb is sore. The teeth of big trout cut more or 
less. There are big trout in the stream I have just been 
fishing; a stream which I do not hesitate to call the best 
, trout _ stream to-day in all the big State of Wisconsin. 
This is not an open stream, and while, there is some 
regret in that thought, there is far more than compensa- 
tion, for it in the thought that the stream is in exactly the 
right hands; and in the other thought that, if it were 
not a preserved stream, there would be in it no trout 
at all 
Earlier mention was made of this stream when the 
invitation to fish it was sent me by Mr, Jno. D. McLeod, 
general manager of the Wisconsin Telephone Company, 
Milwaukee, but I confess that at the time I had no notion 
of what a treat was in store, nor had I any idea that so 
good a_^ preserved stream existed in the State of Wiscon- 
sin, Since the opportunity for a day offered this last 
week end, and since Mr. McLeod wrote me that he was 
going up and would like me to come along, I was able to 
put the matter to proof, and the result was one of the 
most interesting experiences I ever had on a trout stream. 
At Milwaukee I met Mr. McLeod for the first time. (I 
am always getting invitations from people I never met, 
and though they rarely ask me to come a second time, t 
make good on a lot of the first-time ones, thanks to the 
Forest and Stream.) Here also I met Mr. B. K, Miller, 
Jr., who is the owner and the original purchaser of the 
stream. Mr. Miller is an attorney of distinction, who 
studies and practices law as a business, who reads political 
economy as a recreation, travels all over the world for 
relaxation, and fishes his splendid trout water each two 
weeks in the season as a matter of scientific investigation. 
A better team that Mr. Miller and Mr. McLeod to handle 
this ideal preserve it would surely be hard to find. They 
run no club, they sell no privileges, they market no 
trout, they fish square heel and toe with the fly, invite a 
friend now and then, and have just the sweetest and best 
trout monopoly on the face of the earth. It has been a 
good stream ever since it was first looked up by its former 
owner, Harry Gardener, who said that he searched the 
State oyer for the best natural trout stream, and hit on the 
Pine River, never to regret his choice. He inaugurated a 
shotgun regime which at last enforced respect froin the 
worm fishers, the djmamite fishers and the spawning bed 
net fishers, and his hatchery put in perhaps a hundred 
thousand trout each year. About two or three years ago 
he sold the stream to Mr. Miller. It is worth to-day ten 
times what the latter paid for it. I have never fished such 
a stream, and they tell my own experience there should 
be classed as a disappointing one, since the trout were not 
rising well, nor- running so large as is ordinarily the case. 
In spite of these facts, I took fifty-seven trout on the 
fly, the average being around 9 and 10 inches, with some a 
lot larger, and Mr. MeLeod had one yet bigger, though he 
expressed many regrets that we did not get a 2 or 3 
pounder, as usually a party will do each day on the stream. 
I saw scores of trout over 2 pounds wfeight, some much 
heavier, and could testify that the stream is packed with 
trout which run quite above the average of any wiJd 
stream I ever fished in my life. Mr. Miller and Mr. Mc- 
Leod own stock in a little club on the famous Au Sable, 
and they say that they consider that grand stream (a much 
larger water than the Pine) perhaps the best trout stream 
of the West, but after that they class their own stream. 
William Wood, the stream guardian, and the manager of 
the hatchery, says that he has fished every stream in Wis- 
consin and upper Michigan, and knows none so good 
as this. The extent of wator controlled is about live miles, 
;ind there is souk^ water above and below this Avhich is 
open water, and which is fed to a great extent by the 
stock placed in the .stream by the hatchery. Commentary 
■sufficient is. that in the open water all sorts of fishing is 
■■arried on, and the fishing there is now but pooi", in spite 
of the run of trout above the preserved stream; which 
iatter i.s not yet preventable, and which, of course, means 
much waste of the supply put in by the hatchery. 
Mr, McLeod and I left Milwaukee togjether, Mr. Miller 
.-utning out the next day. Our destination, as I learned, 
was Waupaca, on the Wisconsin Central R. R., perhaps a 
Hundred miles or more northwest of Milwaukee, easily 
accessible by the owners of the stream. We thence had a 
ride of eighteen miles out in the country, reaching th- 
tidy little log lodge, which is the abiditig place of tlu 
ovvners while on the stream, in time for a supper which 
made us forget that the world was having trouble to get 
along during our absence. We found the cook to be the 
wife of the farmer who rents the land adjacen.t to the 
stream, Mr. Riek by name, and whose home is about a 
ijuarter of a mile from the lodge. It was Mr. Riek who 
drove us out from town, a drive that was a pleasant ex- 
perience itself, over a lovely lake region which is-noted 
as a bass and pike groiirid. 
The Lodge in the Wilderness. 
Left to ourselves after • supper, Mr. McLeod and I 
sat down for a pleasant evening, and talked till a late 
hour on all things pertaining to trout and trout fishing. I 
learned that my' host was a rod- maker, a Ry tyer and all 
that sort of thing, and bethinking me of a broken rod tip, I 
fetched it out, arid he mfended it neatly as ,any workman 
could have done, and much to my own -satisfaction. After, 
that we sorted casts, filled fly-books and had an entirely 
delightful time/ ' ' • 
The lodge I found to be a nice log affair, with central 
dining room, kitchen and fottr bedrooms. Best of all was 
the big fireplace, which we kept busy. ■ Over this was a 
mantel, carved by Mr. McLeod himself, and the text was 
one worth writing in pictures of silver in aoples of gold. 
"The Camp's the Thing." If this camp jsn't the thing, I 
don't know where we shall find one' that is. 
The next morning William Wood, the guardian, came 
up after breakfast, and we made a start for the serious 
business of the day. I was cautioned that all signs were 
failing, and that the dark fly of small size, which would 
seem to be indicated at this season, on a water absolutely 
open and bright, was not the proper one to use. A No. 6, 
and a gaudy silver-doctor at that, was the advice, at which 
I scoffed, until I learned it to be correct. Why these trout 
like that sort of thing is one of the trout mysteries, but; 
they do. The silver body was perhaps the base of the 
attraction. Yellow does not go on this stream, and the 
professor was futile. Nor did red or maroon, as in the 
Montreal, seem to rule well. The silver body, with gray 
or even absurd blue hackles and the multi-colored wing of 
the silver-doctor, was what they required. Royal-coach 
was useful too, and in the evening coachman and some big 
white-millers, tied nicely imitative. Seth-Green does some 
of. the time. All this on a water the coldest and clearest I 
ever saw on a trout stream, and one teeming with all 
sorts of trout food. (We found the submerged limbs of 
the alders crowded with larvjB of the fly.) 
A Meadov/ Stream, 
I found a stream running through a meadow land, or 
with one side of it all meadow, the other thickly lined with 
bushes, which would make it next to impossible to fish 
from that side. The stream was 30 feet or so wide, but 
most astonishingly deep. The holes and pools were 6, 8, 
Id or 12 feet deep, and under the meadow banks were 
great cavities washed out to an extent of which it is 
difficult to accurately judge. Of course, wading is out of 
the question on nearly all the stream, and it would also be 
hard to fish it with a boat. The problem is therefore 
one of bank fishing, against a sky background, on water 
as clear as crystal. That means a very long line. The 
man who can not handle 30 to 50 feet there is not the 
one to make a basket, and 75 feet is better. The trour 
are shy, though not more shy than on a wild stream, for 
this water is really fished but very little, only about 1,200 
trout being taken there last year, and this year the catch 
running proportionately smaller; since, now that warmer 
W'cather has started the fly hatching, the trout do not rise 
so ravenously. Ordinarily on this stream one has to send 
his basket back to the house two or three times daily to 
get it emptied. It is common to take 40, 50, even 75 or 100 
fish if one cares to do so. Usually Mr. Miller and his little 
party of guests will take home a couple of hundred trout 
with them for two days' fishing every other week. This 
:he stream stands perfectly, and indeed it is a benefit to cut 
lown the stock thus much. Of these fish the average size 
s double of that on any wild stream I know. 
It took but a little while to learn that I was in a caster'^ 
anie here. William Wood and I saw trout everywhere, 
scores of them, but they followed his prediction, and 
would not rise, so tliat it was with some difficulty that T 
put seven in my basket before lunch time. I saw the 
fish scurrying about as we kicked on the banks, and they 
were fine, thick-shouldered fellows, tempting enough to 
look upon, but wild as deer. Mr. McLeod had about 
the same fortune, and bewailed our bad luck. Him I met 
near the lodge at a little after noon, and as we went in we 
saw Mn Miller waiting to welcome tis, he having come out 
that morning. 
Revenge. 
x\fter luncheon "we resolved to have a horrible revenge 
for the bad rndrning's work. We all went down stream, 
Mr. Wood continuing with me. This part of the stream I 
fancied yet better. Here we had the inflow of a spring 
brook which head.s in the big and nearly bottomless spring 
hole where the trout spawn each fall. This brook is the 
nursery for the hatchery product. It would cost much 
more time and money to feed the trout to yearlings, so 
they are planted in this brook, and they seem to survive in 
quantities enough for entire satisfaction. Surely there 
are enough of them in the main stream, and after a whik 
they began to "come." They needed long casting, and wi: 
did our best for them, and little by little the baskets began 
to pull down on the straps. Toward evening we struck 
seme utterly lovely reaches and rapids, where the trout 
were just going on feed, and here we did some business 
•vvith them. I filled my basket full with twenty-lotu: fisb 
of as good a run as it was ever riiy fortune to take. Mr, 
Miller and Mr. McLeod did not fish so late, but gave 
full accoUTlt of fhemselves, though complaining that the 
fish_ were runniiig small and scarce, which seemed to me a 
difficult thing to understand, though T was yet to realize 
if^ truth. 
Again we had a pleasant evcnmg at the fire, and again 
we arranged flies and rods till late at night. That is half 
the fun of fishing, anyhow, to plan and speculate on 
whut they are going to want to-morrow. 
What They Wanted. 
They wanted silver-doctors again on the morrow, ..md 
1 '11.^ want was fiotnething which we could not fill. We had 
all been busy hanging silver-doctors up in the trees and 
bushes for some time, and the supply was growing short, 
■io we ttsed the flies next to that weird kaledoscopc. It 
came off warm and very bright this day, after a heavy rain 
in the early morning, and for three or four hour.s it was 
hard picking to get a trout. My first fish I got in the 
meadow just below the house. The rain had ju.st stopped, 
and I noticed the fish were rising on a nice long reach a.s 
I passed hy. I went in and got a couple of short rises., then 
saw a big flash from under a hollow bank. I tried again, 
stepping back, and as the fly L-mded I got the same flash 
and a big tug, aird soon had a merry tussle wnth a .trout 
which was =0 long he would, not lie down in my basket. 
Him I sent back to the lodge for cold storage, and went 
on down stream, with varying fortunes thereafter. 
Mr. Miller grew di.sgu.*ted with the slowries-s -pf the 
game, and went hack to the house for lunch. Mr. Mc- 
Leod stuck to the water all dav. and indeed was Ip.st in at 
night, and with the biggest fish, one over a pound, and a 
beauty if ever there was one. William Wood was with me 
a little while, and he told me that he had jUst left Mr. 
McLeod after he had lost a 2-pound fish. This latter rose 
after Mr. McLeod had been ca.sting probably twenty t^me?. 
at the same spot, under the bushes across the creek. .Wood 
and T thought this confirmation of the Tavlor system, and 
I could show two or three in.stances of the same sort^ 
though I had not gone in for that style much, but stuck 
to the long line and the far fly. There was splendid hiding 
